


A Few Times Too Many

by AcesOfSpade



Series: Avengers Academy Scarlet Witch AU [2]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Marvel, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, More HYDRA invasions of the Academy, Panic Attacks, and some new characters, they won't go away, this time they want Wanda back, which involves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 16:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11627784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: HYDRA's back at the Academy now that Wanda's resurfaced, in hopes of reclaiming their valuable asset. Wanda's not okay with this, so her boys call in some help from the Great White North to stop them.





	A Few Times Too Many

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's more of my Academy!Wanda AU. I've continued to fuck around with the AA canon a little to make some sense of things, mostly in this one meaning I don't remember if there's been a Strucker plot yet and I ignored the fact that you could recruit Red Skull and Zola at one point. So yeah. Have at it.

After regaining his precious childhood memories, Tommy chose to stay at Avengers Academy with his family. That felt nice to think about. _His_ family. The couple who had adopted him had him sent to so many juvenile detention centres that he no longer knew what a home felt like. Avengers Academy though, that felt like a home, because he had a family that cared about him. It was all so surreal.

 

About a month or so after Tommy joined the Academy, things got weird. The rest of the students and staff seemed almost annoyed, but Wanda and Tommy were concerned. Wanda more so than Tommy though, because she recognized the man at the front of the attacking party. It was Baron von Strucker, the man who had ruined her life. He was flanked by Zola, Red Skull, and Baron Zemo, with an army of HYDRA flunkies marching behind them. Tommy watched in awe as the army quickly put up a marvellous tower of sorts on the other side of the main gate, which was covered in old guns, HYDRA logos, and a large... thing with a lot of tentacles in a tank.

 

The longer Wanda watched the agents, the more rigid her body became. Soon, she was hyperventilating, her entire body gone completely stiff and eyes wide in terror.

 

When Tommy heard the way she was breathing, he whipped around to make sure she was alright. He took her shaking hands in his own, holding them gently so she wouldn’t hurt herself.

 

“Mama, Mama please calm down,” Tommy said, honestly concerned by the way she reacted. “Talk to me, Mama. You’re scaring me.”

 

Slowly, Wanda got her breathing under control. Her hands finally stopped shaking, but her posture was still rigid. She stayed silent for a few moments, calming herself down mentally before she spoke.

 

“Have you encountered HYDRA before?” she asked carefully.

 

“A few times,” Tommy nodded. Where was she going with this?

 

“That is a few times too many,” Wanda told him. “I just got you and your brother back. Now, HYDRA is here. What a cruel twist of fate,” she mumbled, looking at the ground.

 

“What did they do to you?” Tommy asked, an angry calm in his voice that wasn’t directed at his mother. It was directed at HYDRA, the men on the other side of the gate.

 

“What they did _not_ do would be a better question,” Wanda admitted. “They ruined eight years of my life. For that, I will never forgive them, no matter how much they try to ‘fix’ their brainwashing.”

 

“ _Brainwashing_?!” Tommy exclaimed in anger. “I’m gonna kill ‘em. Which one was the ring leader?” he asked.

 

“I do not want you to kill anyone,” Wanda said anxiously, biting her lip. “That makes you as bad as they are. We must figure out some other way for them to get what they deserve. I want them to suffer the way Pietro and I did at their hands.”

 

Tommy hadn’t seen this side of Wanda before, the tough and vindictive side. It was frankly scary, and Tommy didn’t want to see it ever again.

 

“Let’s go find Papa and Billy,” Tommy suggested. “We can figure this out together. And besides, from what I heard on the news, this isn’t the first time HYDRA’s tried to hijack control of this place, so they’d know what to do.”

 

Wanda nodded, following behind Tommy as they zig-zagged the campus until they found Vision and Billy with Frigga, learning to knit. Billy was doing well, but Vision had a large knot he couldn’t untie. He sighed gratefully when he saw Wanda and Tommy, but when he saw their faces, he was immediately to his feet and at his wife’s side. Billy got up too, frowning at his brother.

 

Wanda didn’t say anything at first, simply pointing to the gate. Vision and Billy turned, cursing under their breath.

 

“Not again...” Billy groaned, rolling his eyes. “Why can’t these guys just grow up and move on? Go attack AIM or something, leave us alone.”

 

Vision was too focused on the terror written on Wanda’s face to hear Billy’s exclamation. He took Wanda’s hand bringing it up to kiss her knuckles to calm her down.

 

“What is wrong?” Vision asked softly, tilting his head slightly in concern.

 

“HYDRA,” Wanda muttered. “Specifically Strucker,” she added fearfully. A shiver travelled down her spine just saying the man’s name. She had a burning hatred for that man, one that would probably never go away.

 

Vision’s face fell in a way it hadn’t since Mephisto tried ruining their lives. His eyes had narrowed into angry slits, his mouth set in a deadly scowl that Wanda had gotten used to. He squeezed her hands a little too tightly, enough to make her wince slightly in pain.

 

“Viszh...” Wanda muttered, attempting to calm him down. “Please, do not be like this,” she pleaded. “You must be strong for the both of us, because I do not think I will be able with Strucker so close.” She sounded frantic and downright terrified, which brought Vision’s anger back down. He pulled Wanda into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head. Wanda hugged him back, trying not to cry.

 

Billy and Tommy exchanged a quick look before stepping away, ducking away to the dorms to talk. Tommy had been put into a dorm with Billy and Teddy, though he didn’t mind much. He’d gotten used to their disgusting level of affection from their time as Young Avengers. And besides, he could sleep through anything.

 

Once back in the dorm, the twins were relieved to see that Teddy wasn’t there. Not that he would get in the way. It was going to be a very personal, serious discussion, and Billy couldn’t be serious around Teddy most of the time.

 

“So, give me the rundown. What’s HYDRA tryin’ to do this time?” Tommy asked. “Or do you guys even know yet?”

 

“It looks like everybody but you and Mama know then,” Billy sighed. “They’re here for her, Tommy. Her and Barnes. They want their assets back, and are willing to destroy the Academy to get them now that Mama is out of hiding.”

 

“Well that’s not happening,” Tommy said firmly. “We gotta make a plan, find some people who can help us.”

 

“I think I might know a team that can help. I don’t think they’ve fought HYDRA specifically, but Canada’s gotta have something similar, right?” Billy suggested.

 

“Canada? You wanna bring in a team of young adults from _Canada_ to New York? That’ll take too long!” Tommy protested.

 

“Tommy, I can teleport, remember?” Billy sighed, though he didn’t blame his brother. He was freaking out on the inside.

 

“Oh. Right,” Tommy muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, who are these people?”

 

“They’re part of the Canadian government. Or at least, they were,” Billy explained. “Alpha Flight is what they’re called. Guardian, Snowbird, Northstar, Aurora, Sasquatch, and Shaman. They cover a lot of bases we can’t, and they’ve got the training we need.”

 

Tommy found himself nodding. “Okay. Should we tell Fury you’re bringing them?”

 

“Probably a good idea. C’mon,” Billy shrugged, leaving the dorm to find Fury.

 

The conversation with Fury was short. Fury said ‘no’, Billy and Tommy said ‘too bad’. They’d defy the director every chance they could if it meant protecting the people they cared about.

 

Within the hour, the twins had returned with six young adults, probably not much older than themselves. Among the six were only two women, though they seemed much more confident than the men. Billy and Tommy couldn’t help but smile slightly at the set of twins, a male and a female, as the male one nervously clung to his sister’s arm.

 

The tallest of the group was the leader, James MacDonald-Hudson, though the team just called him Guardian. With his neatly combed black hair and piercing blue eyes, you could tell he meant business even without hearing him speak.

 

Next to him was a bulky guy with a mess of blonde curls and a pair of glasses perched in front of his eyes. He looked like your typical jock in terms of physicality, but he dressed like a university professor. His name was Walter Langkowski, a nuclear physicist with a past in football. For the sake of not being torn to shreds, just call him Sasquatch.

 

Behind Langkowski were the twins, Northstar and Aurora. With the same snow-white complexion and raven black hair, the only real difference between them was the fact that Jeanne-Marie was a female and Jean-Paul wasn’t. The Beaubier twins didn’t ever stray far from each other, that was for sure.

 

The elusive Snowbird stood a little away from the group, simply examining the campus. Narya, with her honey-blonde curls and bright smile, could’ve been a goddess. Maybe she was. No one really knew.

 

The final member looked older than the rest, if only by a few years. Shaman was of First Nations decent, with shoulder-length black hair pulled into a low braid. His arms were crossed over his chest, a look of stern indifference on his face. Only the team knew his proper name of Michael Twoyoungmen, and were sworn to not tell anyone.

 

“Well guys, this is Avengers Academy!” Billy said, trying to sound cheerful.

 

“Is it always being staked out by some crazy guys in green and black?” James asked with a raised eyebrow. “Or is it a special occasion?”

 

“The occasion would happen to be why we need your help,” Tommy told him. “That’s HYDRA. They want to kidnap our mother again and use her as a living weapon.”

 

“And since they’ve clearly learned from their last attempt at invasion, we needed a new set of skills to help keep them from causing the end of the world,” Billy added.

 

“With the power of one woman at their disposal?” Jeanne-Marie frowned. “Is she not just a human?”

 

Billy shook his head. “Not... exactly. She was experimented on by those idiots, and is now pretty much omnipotent,” he explained.

 

“So what I’m hearing is they can’t have her,” James nodded. “Noted. Now, anywhere we can set up a base of operations? No offence to SHIELD, but we’d like to _not_ get tangled up with another government agency, even if this is a different country.”

 

Tommy nodded, waving for them to follow him. “There’s a bit of space over here, by the timefog.” He gestured towards the aforementioned strange fog, which made the Alpha Flight team gawk in confusion. Of all of the mystical threats they had faced, none had heard of timefog before.

 

Once the team had everything they needed to set up a base, Tommy and Billy went to find Wanda. They found her in her classroom, pacing nervously back and forth with red sparks flying from her fingertips. She was nervous, scared really, and it showed in the tightness of her shoulders and the straightness of her back. When she saw the twins, she smiled slightly, but her posture didn’t change.

 

“Mama, Billy found some people who might be able to help,” Tommy called out as they entered, which caught her attention.

 

“Oh really?” she asked hopefully. She’d take any help she could get in destroying HYDRA, even the help of a group of strangers.

 

“They call themselves Alpha Flight,” Billy nodded. “They used to be a part of the Canadian government, but now they operate alone.”

 

“I see...” Wanda hummed, tapping her chin lightly. “Does Fury know you have brought them here?”

 

“He does,” Billy nodded sheepishly. “But he’s not happy about it.”

 

“Of course he is not,” Wanda shook her head. “He does not like being told what to do. Never has.”

 

“Either way, they’re here and setting up a base by the Makluan Zone as we speak,” Tommy pointed out. “I’d suggest listening to them, because two of the guys are _ripped_. And I mean pro-footballer ripped. I wouldn’t piss them off if I were you.”

 

“Only your first thought would be that,” Billy rolled his eyes, somewhat jokingly. “Would you like to come meet them?” he asked Wanda, who nodded. The three headed for the Makluan Zone, for the most part silent. When Tommy spotted someone a few hundred metres away, he bit his lip and sighed.

 

“You now he’ll have to help,” he muttered, hoping Wanda knew what he meant. “They’re here for him too. I know what being around him does to you, but he’s gotta help us protect you _and_ him.”

 

Wanda sighed softly, nodding. “I know, I know,” she muttered, looking over to the man in question and waving him over cautiously. She knew he’d changed drastically since he escaped HYDRA, but the innate fear and paranoia of physical harm still sat heavy in her heart and mind.

 

Bucky knew how Wanda felt about him, and he knew he deserved it. As he walked over, he made sure his hands were in his hoodie pockets so she couldn’t see the metal one, keeping his head just up enough to see where he was going. He stopped a few feet from the group, nodding in greeting.

 

“Hey,” Bucky mumbled, looking down at the ground. “You wanted me?”

 

Billy nodded, noticing how Wanda was looking at him, the fear in her eyes evident.

 

“We were going to introduce Mama to the team we brought to help with HYDRA this time, and we figured since they’re here for you too, you should meet them,” Billy explained, motioning for everyone to keep moving towards the Makluan Zone. The rest of the walk was filled with uncomfortable silence, Wanda slowly getting herself back together and not having a flashback.

 

When they arrived at the spot they assumed was the Alpha Flight base, Tommy nearly burst out laughing. He didn’t though, because this was serious. But how could he take this team seriously if their base was a _giant igloo?_ The answer was that he couldn’t. A small snort managed to escape him, drawing the attention of the six Canadians that had just finished building the structure.

 

“Now, I’d watch what your words right about now, bud,” James said evenly. “You don’t see us laughing at your Academy. Don’t laugh at our base. Got it?”

 

Tommy nodded quickly, looking anywhere but at the igloo. James nodded back firmly, turning to Wanda, Billy, and Bucky.

 

“You just be the twins’ mother,” James said with a smile. “You don’t look much older than they do though,” he observed. Before Wanda could react, Walter casually walked passed James and smacked the back of his head.

 

“What would Heather say about that?” Walter chided, making James turn bright red. “Don’t worry about him, ma’am. James is a hopeless flirt, even when his fiancee is around,” he chuckled.

 

“No, no. It is fine,” Wanda chuckled. “I am used to comments such as that.”

 

“We never did get your name,” Walter commented, offering her his hand. “Dr. Walter Langkowski,” he introduced.

 

“Wanda Maximoff,” the witch said, shaking his hand. “Are these your teammates?”

 

Walter nodded. “James MacDonald-Hudson, Narya, Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, and Shaman,” he said, pointing to each member in question. They mostly just waved slightly, though Shaman just sort of nodded.

 

“Hi,” Bucky mumbled, finally looking up from the ground. His eyes narrowed slightly at the Beaubier twins, though he didn’t say anything. “My name’s Bucky. HYDRA wants my ass too, but Wanda’s a lot more important. I can go back. I was there long enough, and I’ve got nothing here. She’s got everything.” What Bucky didn’t say was that he would go back just so Wanda wouldn’t live in constant fear of him while she was finally happy with her family back together. He hated the way he made her act, wishing he hadn’t been the one who had to train her and Pietro. She reminded him so much of his little sister Becca, even if the memories were still slowly filtering back in, and he felt sick to his stomach at the idea of hurting her again.

 

Wanda was taken aback by Bucky’s statement, a light blush settling in her cheeks. “Neither of us will be going back,” she promised, cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder. Bucky, to his credit, managed not to flinch. He was bad with physical contact, even the slightest little touch of the hand. Wanda could tell how tense he was, so she removed her hand quickly, letting it fall to her side.

 

Bucky stayed silent as the twins and Wanda made plans with the Alpha Flight guys. He was only half-listening, mostly forcing himself not to remember the HYDRA horror stories he’d been through in his decades of imprisonment and manipulation. He wanted so badly for those memories to disappear, like HYDRA had done for the ones he was slowly getting back, but he just _knew_ they’d never truly be gone.

* * *

By the end of the day, Alpha Flight pretty much had everything covered. Of course, Billy and Tommy weren’t going to sit back and let them do everything, so they wormed their way into the plans. Wanda was okay with not fighting the lackies, but she was determined to fight Strucker face-to-face for the first time in about thirty years.

 

The first round of attack against HYDRA happened the next morning. Billy and Shaman distracted a handful of the lackies while Tommy zipped by and tied them up, tossing them in a containment cell they couldn’t get out of. Every hour after that, more lackies were added to the cell until there weren’t any left to add. That just left Strucker, Zola, and Schmidt to deal with. Wanda was given ‘permission’ to take out Strucker in any way she saw fit, while Bucky was to handle Schmidt, and Alpha Flight got Zola.

 

Wanda had everything planned out in extensive detail. She’d had these plans since she escaped Strucker’s clutches and became a SHIELD agent and later an Avenger. She had so many things to yell at him for, but she settled for silence and an even facial expression. That lasted a whole of thirty seconds, as Strucker was yelling insults at her as she circled around him, as well as trying to convince her to come back to him and HYDRA.

 

“I do not know what delusions you suffer, Baron von Strucker, but I am better off here, with my family,” Wanda sneered, firing her first bolt of magic towards the man who had haunted her nightmares for decades.

 

“Family?” Strucker snorted, rolling his eyes. “What family would want you? You are nothing but an obedient lap dog, waiting for an order to fulfill. If either of us is delusional, Miss Maximoff, it is you. You and your belief that you can function without HYDRA’s guiding hand. You are nothing without us.”

 

“That is where you are wrong,” Wanda spat through clenched teeth. “I am more than a lap dog. I am a _mother_ , and HYDRA cannot change that. It would bring me great satisfaction to end your reign of terror, but I am bigger than you. I will not kill my enemies,” she said evenly, casting a quick spell to bind Strucker’s limbs tightly. “I will make you suffer the way you did to Pietro and I all those years ago.” With a flick of Wanda’s wrist, Strucker let out a pained scream as he disappeared. She had sent him somewhere he couldn’t escape, no matter how hard he tried. She wouldn’t need to worry about him for quite some time.

 

Meanwhile, Bucky had simply pulled out a pistol, firing straight at Schmidt’s chest. Schmidt had no chance to react before the bullet tore through his heart, his body falling limp. Bucky didn’t care for taunting or battle banter. He just wanted that asshole gone so he didn’t have to worry about him coming back anymore. Now, he just needed to deal with Pierce. The day would come, he knew it would.

 

Between the six Alpha Flight members, Zola was taken down and sent to the same prison as Strucker. Wanda let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding once all of the HYDRA agents were dealt with, her shoulders relaxing considerably.

 

Once the three men were dealth with, the Alpha Flight members bid their goodbyes and headed home. They’d been offered the chance to attend Avengers Academy, but they knew they were needed back home in Canada, so they declined.

 

As Alpha Flight left, Wanda had found a tree in Avengers Park to sit under, her legs tucked underneath her and her eyes closed. She tried to regulate her breathing, reminding herself she was safe now, that Strucker couldn’t get to her anymore.

 

That was where Vision and the kids found her, Vision sitting next to her while the kids sat in front of her.

 

“Mother?” Viv muttered softly. She had grown attached to Wanda since meeting her, and seeing her upset wasn’t a nice feeling. “Are you alright?”

 

Wanda opened her eyes at the voice, a faint smile on her face. “I think I am now, my darling,” she nodded. “Strucker can no longer hurt me, nor can he hurt any of you.”

 

Vision wrapped an arm around Wanda protectively, silently wishing he could’ve done more to help her. He wasn’t the most confrontational person at the Academy, so he had stepped back and let his wife face her nightmare like some kind of idiot.

 

In response, Wanda nestled herself against Vision’s side, making herself comfortable. She needed all the comfort she could get, that was for sure. Her hands were shaking like leaves, her heart beating so fast Vision could feel it.

 

“So he’s gone now?” Tommy asked hopefully, to which Wanda nodded. “Good. I would’ve killed him...” he whispered to himself, hoping no one else heard. It seemed either no one did or no one wanted to acknowledge what he had said, as no one reacted in any way.

 

The family fell silent for a few moments, the silence tense and fearful. What other HYDRA agents would try to get Wanda back in the future? Would they succeed? The fear was high that they would lose Wanda again, but Vision and the kids wouldn’t let that happen.

 

After a few minutes, Billy broke the silence. “Why don’t we go to the Archive and watch a movie or something?” he suggested softly. He knew where they hid the projector and screen in the Archive, and he’d gladly set up some cheesey movie for them to watch in hopes of lightening the mood.

 

“How about a Star Trek marathon?” Tommy suggested. He wouldn’t admit it to any of his friends, but damn did Tommy love Star Trek, in all its forms. “We could watch Enterprise,” he added, knowing that was Wanda’s favourite series besides the original.

 

Wanda perked up slightly at that, a smile finding its way onto her face. “I would love that,” she nodded happily.

 

“What is ‘Star Trek’?” Viv asked curiously, cocking her head to the left.

 

“Oh, you’re going to love it,” Billy grinned, getting up from the ground. Everyone else stood as well, heading over to the Archive for much-needed family time. And if Tommy snuck in some snacks, that was their business.


End file.
